Vending-machine.



PATENTED FEB. 7, 1905.

P. G. SGHOFIBLD.

VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 16, 1904.

3 SEEBTB8HEET 1.

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No. 782,062. PATENTED FEB. 7, 1905. F. G. SGHOPIELD.

VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAB..16, 1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

as armaments PATENTED FEB. 7, 1905.

1?. G. SGHOPIELD.

VENDING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED MAR. 16, 1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

lUNITED STATES FREDERICK C. SCHOFIELI), OF \VASI-IINCTON, DISTRICT OFCOLUMBIA, COMPANY, OF

ASSIGNOR TO THE H. C.

CRA G G Patented February 7, 1905.

ATENT Price.

MAN UFACT U RI NG \VASIIINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

VENDING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 782,062, dated February'7, 1905,

Application filed March 16, 1904:. Serial No. 198,440.

To a]? whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, Fannnmok C. Sono- FIELD, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at lVashington, in the District of Columbia, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Vending-Machines; and Ido hereby declare the following to be afull, clear. and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in coin-controlledvending-machines, and has certain advantages and features of noveltyhereinafter more fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide an ejector mechanismwhich is adapted, first, to be initially moved beneath the series ofarticles to be vended, out of the path of the same, and when soinitially moved and the locking-coin disengaged will be elevated andmoved in the opposite direction-in the path of the lowermost of theseries of articles in the machine.

Another object of the invention is to utilize the coin-chute both in itsfunction as a coin chute proper and as the means for ejecting thearticle to be delivered.

Another object is to provide a means carried by the coin-chutecooperating as a part of the locking mechanism as well as afraudpreventive device.

Other objects will appear in the following specification, and in orderto more fully describe the invention reference is had to theaccompanying drawings, illustrating the same, in which like numeralsdesignate the same parts in the several views, and in which.

Figure l is a front elevation of the casing for the machine. Fig. 2 is aside elevation of same. Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view of theoperating mechanism, showing the coinchute in its normal position with acoin inserted therein. Fig. 4 is a detail view in elevation looking fromthe rear of the coinchutes. Fig. 5 is a sectional view through thecasing, showing one of the coin-chutes with an operating-coin thereinand initially moved rearwardly of the machine and set in position fordelivering one of the articles when released. Fig. 6 is a rear view ofthe casing, showing the coin-chutes in front elevation. Fig. 7 is afront elevation of a modilied form of the front portion of thecoinchute.. Fig. 8 is a central longitudinal section thereof, and Fig. 9is a detail view of a modilied form of the coin-locking lever.

1 is the casing, of any suitable construction, having an upper chamberfor the reception of a series of the articles tobe vended arranged oneabove the other and a lower chamber for the operating mechanism and forreceiving the delivered articles. The lower chamber is divided off by asuitable partition 2, forming the compartment 3 for the deliveredarticles and the compartment 4: for the operating mechanism.

is a shelf supported at its forward end on the top of the partition 2 asuliicient distance below the cover of the lower chamber to form apassage therebetween for the delivery of the article and extendingrearwardly at a slight inclination and suitably secured. This shelf 5 isadapted to supporta series of articles and is slotted, as at 6, toreceive the upper end of the ejector as it pushes out the article.

T represents uprights of suitable construction provided with thetransverse cross-bars 8, forming a rest for the ejector-s when in theirnormal position.

9 is a rock-shaft extending transversely of the compartment 4, and tothis rock-shaft are secured one or a plurality of lovers l0, preferablyhaving the angular arm IL. on which is pivoted the lever 12, the forwardend of which is provided with a lug 13, coi'iperating with a beveled lugIt for forming a notched end for the reception of a coin. The rear-endof the lever is weighted, as at 15, to hold the forward end in itsproper position relatively to the coin-chute hereinafter described, therear arm of the lever being adapted to be supported in any suitable wayas. for instance, by the web 16 on the rock-shaft 9.

IT is a rod disposed transversely of the compartment & in the arc of acircle described from the axis 9, the radius of which is equal to thedistance from the axis 9 to the weighted end of the lever, so that theend 15 of the lever will be adapted to be engaged by the rod 17 fortripping the lever and releasing the operating-coin.

On the free end of the lever 10 is pivotally supported the ejector,which I have shown as comprising the coin-chute itself. In Figs. 3 to 6the coin-chute is illustrated as provided with the upper channeledguideway 18 and the rear upper wall with a flaring lip 19 for guidingthe coin to the chute. The lower end of the rear wall of the chute isslotted, as at 20, and is pivotally supported by the link 21 to the freeend of the lever 10 on the pivotpins 22. Opposite the slotted portion 20is formed a box-like compartment comprising the side walls 23, the topwall 24, secured to the front face of the chute 18 by the central Web25, and the bottom strips 26, forming a space through which the innerend of the lever 12 operates. The front Wall of this boxlike compartmentis in the nature of a depending plate 27, extending a sufficientdistance downwardly to be opposite the operating-coin, but leaving aspace between its lower edge and the strips 26 to allow the lever 12 tooperate beneath same. On the inner face of this plate 27 is secured asharp-pointed pin 28, extending almost to the rear lower wall of thechute opposite the opening 20. This pin 28 is adapted to impinge thecoin and binds the lower edge of thelatter against the beveled face ofthe lug let on the lever 12, thus locking the coin-chute to the rockingshaft 9, which is operated by a suitable handle 9.

The construction of the modified form of the front plate of thecoin-chute illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8 is obvious without furthermaterial description and is designed to simplify its manufacture. Inthis construction the impinging-pin 28 is riveted in the cross-bar 27,and the side walls 23 of the chute are cut away at their lower ends andbent to form the ears 21, corresponding to the link 21 of the previousfigures.

The modified form of locking-lever 12 in Fig. 9 does away with the lug 1and simply provides the forward lug 13 and the inclined face 1 1,against which the operatingcoin binds upon coming in contact with theimpinging-pin. In this lever, as in the one formerly described, theouter end may be of sufficient length to balance the lever withoutproviding this end with any other weighting means.

I have only described one of the operatingcoin chutes; but it will beunderstood that there may be one or a plurality of them, theirdisposition with reference to each other being obvious from aninspection of the drawings, and each ejector or coin-chute is connectedby a spring 29 or equivalent means to a suitable support for returningthe coin-chute to its normal position when operated rearwardly andreleased.

The operation is as follows: When the operating-coin is placed withinone of the slots 30 and the operating mechanism in the position shown inFig. 3, the coin drops through the aperture 6 of the shelf 5 and isguided by the flaring lip 19 into the channel 18 and down thecoin-chute, resting in the notch formed between the lugs 13 and 14 ofthe lever 12 immediately behind the impingingpin 28. While in thisposition, upon operating the handle'9 the rock-shaft 9 is rotatedrearwardly, carrying with it the lever 12, and the pin 28 impingingagainst the coin looks that particular coin-chute and swings itrearwardly in an are (indicated by the dotted line a) with the rod 9 asits axis. The other coin-chutesduring this movement will be elevated tothe position shown in Fig. 5, on the right-hand side of said figure.When the operating-coin'chute is swung rearwardly to the positionindicated on the lefthand side of Fig. 5, the weighted end 15 of thelever 12 strikesthe rod 17, forcing the forward end of the lever 12downwardly out of engagement with the coin,

whereuponthe spring 29 retracts "and-swings the coin-chute on the pivot22 as an axis, thecoin being discharged through the opening 20 and theupper end of the coin-chute describing an are (indicated by the dottedline b, Fig. 5) in the path of the lowermost of :the articles to bedelivered, and the operating-handle being released the rock-shaft 9 isrotated forwardly by the action of the springs and the weight of thecoin-chutes, the parts being thus brought to their normal positions.

It will be obvious that if a washer having a central hole therein beplaced in the machine the mechanism will not operate, as the pin 28 willpass through the hole. Similarly, if a soft-metal slug should be placedin the machine the impinging-pin 28 will buckle it sufficiently-to forcethe lower edge over the projecting lug 13 and discharge the slug.

It will be understood that I do not wish to limit myself to the exactdetails of constructions as illustrated, as many modifications might bemade without departing from the spirit of the invention; but

WVhat I claim is 1. The combination with a suitable support for thearticles to be vended, of a pivoted support. an ejector pivoted to saidpivoted support, means for rigidly locking said ejector to said pivotedsupport upon the insertion of the operating-coin, means-for swingingsaid ejector, when so locked, past the articles, on the axis of saidpivoted support, means for releasing said ejector when so swung apredetermined distance, and means for swinging said ejector on its ownaxis in the reverse direction, when released, in the path of one of saidarticles.

2. The combination with a suitable support for the articles to bevended, of a pivoted support, an ejector pivoted to said support, alocking-lever pivoted to said pivoted support and cooperating with saidejector for rigidly locking the latter to said pivoted support upon theinsertion of an operating-coin, means for swinging said ejector, when solocked, past the articles, on the axis of said pivoted support, meansfor tripping said locking-lever for releasing said ejector and means forswinging said ejector in the reverse direction, when released, in thepath of one of said articles.

3. The combination with a suitable support for the articles to bevended, of a pivotal support, a coin-chute pivoted to said pivotalsupport, means for interlocking said pivotal support and coin-chute uponthe insertion of an operating-coin, means for swinging said coinchute,when so locked, in one direction on the axis of said pivotal support,means for swinging said coinchute on its own independent pivot in thereverse direction when released, and means for automatically unlockingsaid coin-chute and pivotal support.

&. The combination with a suitable support for the articles to bevended, of a movable support, a coin-chute having an apertured rearlower portion, pivoted to said movable support, a locking-lug carried bysaid movable support and extending adjacent said apertu red portion, animpingingpin carried by said coin-chute and extending in proximity tosaid apertured end thereof, whereby the operatingcoin is adapted to locksaid coin-chute to said movable support upon the insertion of the coin,means for operating said movable support and swinging said coin-chutepast said articles, means for releasingsaid coin, and means forreturning-said coin-chute in the path of the lowermost of said articleswhen released.

5. The combination with a suitable support for the articles to bevended, of a pivotal support, a coin-chute pivoted to said pivotalsupport, a lever pivoted to said pivotal support, means carried by saidpivoted lever and coinchute operatively associated to lock saidcoinchute to said lever upon the insertion of the operating-coin, meansfor operating said coinchute on the axis of said pivotal support when solocked, means for tripping said lever for releasing said coin, and meansfor swinging said coin-chute on its own pivot in the reverse directionwhen released.

6. In a vending-machine, the combination with a suitable casing and asuitable support for the articles to be vended, a rock-shaft mounted inthe lower part of said casing, a plurality of lugs carried by saidrock-shaft, a plurality of coin-chutes pivotally mounted on said lugs,means for interlocking one or more of said coin-chutes to saidrock-shaft upon the insertion of the operating-coin, means for operatingsaid locked coin-chute past said articles in one direction, means forunlocking said coin-chutes, and means for returning same to their normalpositions in the path of one of said articles when unlocked.

T. In a vending-machine, the combination with a suitable casing and asuitable support for the articles to be vended, of a rock-shaft mountedin the lower part of said casing, a plurality of angularly-disposed lugscarried by said rock-shaft, a plurality of coin-chutes pivotally mountedon one arm of said angular lugs, a plurality of levers pivotally mountedon the other arm of said angular lugs, means carried by said levers andsaid coin-chutes for interlocking same upon the insertion of theoperating-coin, means for moving said rockshaft and interlockingcoin-chute rearwardly, means for tripping said lever at a predeterminedpoint in said coin-chutes rearward movement, for releasing theoperating-coin, and means for returning said coin-chute in the path ofthe lowermost of said articles when operated and released.

In testimony whereof I a tiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FREDERICK SCHOFIELD.

Vitnesses:

C. P. PUSHAW, "V. J. FORD.

